


Swords

by finch (afinch)



Category: World of Warcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:40:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afinch/pseuds/finch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some plot holes that are slipped into the middle of nowhere, places in the dark where characters go to die ... The consequences of falling are dire - one loses all but the most essential elements of self.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swords

**Author's Note:**

  * For [voksen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/voksen/gifts).



> *coughcoughnotatallinspiredbyreallifeeventscoughcough*

There are some plot holes that are slipped into the middle of nowhere, places in the dark where characters go to die. The real secret to plot holes is that it is not the physical death of the character, rather, that the hole leads somewhere. Fall through Stormwind, or the Badlands, or Asenvale Forest, or Desolace, and one will find themselves in the same section of our world, that is, a sleepy little town in Maine called Waterville. The consequences of falling are dire - one loses all but the most essential elements of self. It is where our Heroine, a young woman named Catie, found herself.

She had been Annie Elizabeth, and she loved her husband fiercely. She loved their daughter even more, if it were possible. They had battled together, fighting for what they knew to be right, and it only abated with the pregnancy. Then, Edwin had hidden her away, fearful of the Horde, fearful of the Guard. Was there no-one they were safe from? 

Then came the child, a bright happy young girl they named Vanessa. She was their one happy thing to come home to at the end of the day, though Edwin kept her hidden, kept the two of them as hidden as he could, and did everything to deny their existence outside the Brotherhood. Even among them, the whispers of where Edwin's wife and daughter were staying were collected carefully, information was like water: it trickled, and the Guard was patient. 

He had come home one night from 'work' utterly exhausted, and Annie had kissed him tenderly and told him not to worry, that she would get the bread and milk for tonight. It would be a short trip, she'd be back in a matter of minutes. 20 minutes later, when she had not come back, he knew; they had found her, taken her, likely killed her. He took the baby and ran, leaving the fire burning. It was just them now, and he had to protect her at any cost. If he had known the real truth (but how could he have known) he would have stopped at nothing to go looking for her.

She had been taking the side streets, nothing in the main areas, and one slip into what she thought was a small puddle, but was a very large plot hole and she was falling, silently, through the sky, through the void, into a meeting with a young man with some behavioural problems at school. 

Just like that, she was Catie, with Earth memories of growing up as Catie, of being married, of being divorced, of being a social worker. There was nothing left of her world, no memories of Vanessa, or of Edwin. None of the Alliance or the Horde, or Stormwind City. Just a sleepy hollow of Waterville, ME.

It changed the first time she started gaming. Something that was Annie Elizabeth clawed to the surface, compelled Catie to listen to everyone around her and pick up World of Warcraft. "Definitely going to be an orc," she muttered. "And definitely Horde." That wasn't a choice at all, Annie beating strong with every heartbeat, Annie knowing that she would die completely if Catie chose allegiance to the Alliance. Catie wasn't like that, though. Catie fought as a social worker, trying to make lives better for those around her. Catie cried at Hallmark commercials, and rallied against injustice. Catie was one to take to picket lines in support of workers. Catie was Annie, they were everything the Alliance was not, everything it could never hope to be. Being Horde wasn't a choice. 

If you asked Catie, she'd say it was just a whim she started playing, and just habit that she continued. That it was a fun game, and she enjoyed the chat, and enjoyed the people. She wouldn't tell you that her favourite animal was a butterfly, that her favourite colour was a deep velvety red, and that she knew of a little of how to fight hand-to-hand combat (her memories told her that her father - a father of daughters - had taught her how to defend herself. She didn't remember Edwin teaching her the basics, so that if she had to put herself in front of their daughter, it wouldn't be for naught. That she could give a meaningful sacrifice). No, she'd stick to her story of it being a hobby, but late at night, as memories of leveling up turned into dreams, the obsession would reveal itself. 

It was a quest, it was a quest entirely of her own making, to find Edwin again. To find their daughter again. It drove everything she did. She had remarried, to a man more pro-union and anti-Reagan than she was, if that were possible. Annie had, in this entirely human world, in Waterville, ME, found the closest thing to Edwin that she could. Now all she needed was her daughter back. That was up to Catie. 

The easiest way to do it? Gain a position of power and influence. And so, because this was America in the year of our lord two thousand and fucking twelve, she ran for higher office, and not her new husband. She was the one on a quest, after all. He was merely the Edwin stand in (he was doing a rather marvelous job at it too, what with his wrangling of city clerks). Nevertheless, she was doing the one thing Edwin had warned her not to do, attract too much attention, and sure enough the Alliance came in full force. 

They came under the guise of the opposing political party, but Annie, deep inside Catie, knew. Even Catie knew, though she did not give voice to her thoughts. This wasn't just politics, this was clawing too close to home, and too close to her Edwin and Vanessa. The Alliance circled, ready to deliver the death blow, when something extraordinary happened; people, ordinary people the world over came to her defence. People came to every corner of the internet, people talked every great circle around the globe, about the underdog, the woman fighting against injustice cloaking itself as government. 

It only gave her more power, not less. Instead of a death knell, it was a warrior cry. She rode the wave of the common people to a resounding victory, defeating the Alliance, and in a way, the Horde as well. Nothing like defying expectations and causing tidbity trouble all throughout the election season. She was the commoner, and now she was their warrior. Edwin would have been proud. 

With all the madness surrounding her, there was no doubt that she had created enough internal backlash angst to create another plot hole. Only in the world of Earth they weren't called plot holes, they were called 'mysterious disappearances' and people like her Edwin surrogate would get into trouble. Annie thought that was a perfectly fair price to pay to get back to her daughter - Edwin might have died, but Annie knew her daughter better than anyone else, and knew her daughter would have found a way to escape the bomb. A secondary hatch, with some scuba gear and an oxygen tank. Vanessa was a fighter, a warrior, just like her mother and father, and she would not have killed herself, not like that. Not like a coward. 

There was a plot hole opened somewhere in Waterville, ME, and Catie doesn't know that she's looking for it, much as she didn't know what was fueling her obsession with World of Warcraft. Annie is looking for Vanessa, and will stop at nothing until she finds her. She comes to bring peace, by her sword if necessary; she comes to find her daughter, by sword if necessary. 

Kennedy Memorial Drive, Elm Street, the UU Church, two McDonalds, a college, the bad end of town, two Hannafords, a movie theatre, a general lack of redvines, downtown, the concourse, city hall, a river, the other end of town, main street, crazy intersection, old post office, houses sandwiched between, pad thai too, Mainely's, the porn shop, Wal-mart, Starbucks, another Starbucks, Jorgensen's, ice cream, and I-95.

Somewhere in there is Vanessa, a small child who needs a mother and loves butterflies and metal at the same time. All has not been lost. But nevertheless - should you happen to Waterville, ME, and should you happen upon a smart, ferocious red-headed elected official, watch out.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear voksen, I love you, bye.


End file.
